Mentalism vs Mental Magic

An excerpt from Bob Cassidy's "Principia Mentalia":

The Difference Between Mentalism and Mental Magic

Both mentalism and mental magic are forms of entertainment. Neither is more inherently entertaining than the other.

...Mental magic and most theatrical magic are indistinguishable. Both are obviously illusions or special effects, which are visually or intellectually interesting, but nonetheless are generally perceived to be tricks by even marginally intelligent audiences.
HOW TO TELL IF YOU ARE DOING MENTAL MAGIC OR MENTALISM:

Pay attention to what audiences generally ask after seeing you perform. Do they ask things like:

“How is that done?’
“Can you show me another trick?”
“My five year old has a birthday coming up, what do you charge?”

If your answer is “yes,” you are doing mental magic, which is best described as “effects with a mind reading theme, which are, nonetheless, perceived to be magic tricks.” They do not create the illusion of the “real thing.”

If, on the other hand, you have succeeded in creating the illusion of mentalism, you will receive responses like these:

“Did you learn that somewhere, or is it something you were born with?”
“How did you know that?” (as opposed to “How did you DO that?”)
“Get away from me, man. Don’t be messin’ with my head!”

Mentalism and mental magic, then, are different forms of entertainment. Both elicit different perceptions and reactions from an audience. The mentalist, therefore, has an ethical responsibility unknown to the conjuror or mental magician, for he is in a position to make people believe in, and rely upon, to their detriment, his alleged powers.